Occupational diseases
 
A list of occupational diseases (Regulation of the Council of Ministers of  30 July 2009 on the list of occupational sicknesses, the detailed principles of proceeding on matters of declaring the suspicion, diagnosis and confirmation of occupational diseases and the entities competent on these matters, Journal of Laws no. 105, item 869)

Proceedings in cases of occupational diseases:

  • 1) notification:
    the suspicion of an occupational disease and its diagnosis may arise from the worker or former worker, during the period of his employment under occupational exposure or after ending work under such exposure, but no later than in the period that has been specified in the list of occupational diseases
    (§ 2, paragraph 2 of the regulation on the list of occupational diseases [...]):
    • the notification is made by:
      - the employer who employs the worker who suspects that he has an occupational disease
      - the doctor, who has learned of the suspicion of the worker’s occupational disease during the performance of his duties
      - the worker who suspects that he has symptoms that could indicate such a disease, whereby the currently employed worker declares such a suspicion through the doctor who is responsible for his prophylactic health care
      - the dentist, who has learned of the suspicion of the worker’s occupational disease during the performance of his duties
      - the veterinarian, who has determined that the worker who is in contact with sick animals may be suspected of contracting an occupational disease during the performance of his duties
      who should be notified?:
      - the competent health inspector
      - the competent labour inspector
      in what form?:
      - on the form specified in the regulations on the method of documenting occupational diseases (Journal of Laws no. 132, item 1121)
      - by telephone (this is an additional notification, in the case of acute occupational diseases or the suspicion that an occupational disease was the reason for the death of a worker)
  • 2) after completion of the proceedings to define the damage to the health or the incapacity to work in connection with the worker’s occupational disease, the employer sends:
     - the Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine in Łódź and
     - the competent state health inspector
    a notification of the consequences of the occupational diseases
  • 3) in the event of the diagnosis of a worker having an occupational disease, the employer is obliged to:
    • establish the cause of the occupational disease and the nature and extent of the threat of this disease, acting in consultation with the competent State Health Inspector
      start to immediately remove the factors that cause the occupational disease and use other necessary preventive measures
      ensure that the doctor’s recommendations are implemented; whereby in the event of finding symptoms of occupational disease, the employer is obliged to move the worker to another job that does not expose him to the actions of the agent that caused these symptoms, on the basis of a medical certificate within the time and for the duration stated in this certificate.
  • 4) if the transfer to another job results in a reduction in salary, the worker is entitled to a balancing addition for a period that does not exceed 6 months
  • 5) the employer holds a register of cases of occupational diseases and suspicions of such diseases (article 235, § 4 of the Labour Code)
  • 6) the employer is obliged to systematically analyse the causes of occupational diseases and other diseases connected with the working environment and to apply the appropriate preventive measures based on the results of these analyses
 
See also:

 

Module of the STER System supporting selection of personal protective equipment

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